Edmonton’s Connor McDavid is not only fast, says the Ducks’ Jakob Silfverberg, ‘he’s s good at handling the puck at a fast speed as well. He’s a tricky player to play against.’ (Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

ANAHEIM – The NHL’s fastest player is well on his way to becoming its best, and the Ducks are now faced with the task of stopping him. Or slowing him down. Or making him do more than shift up ice from first gear to seventh in the blink of an eye. If any of that is really possible.

Connor McDavid turned 20 midway through this season. His response to an injury-abbreviated, otherwise-would-have-been Calder Trophy rookie season was claiming another piece of hardware – the Art Ross Trophy, in this case – as the league’s leading scorer and only one to reach 100 points.

That and leading the Edmonton Oilers to the playoffs for the first time in 11 years figures to get him another trophy, this one the Hart as the NHL’s most valuable player in June. The exploits of No. 97 have fired up a passionate, devoted fan base from his first game and now he has a team worthy of his talents in the chase for the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since their dynasty ended in 1990.

It is a real nice story. But to the Ducks, McDavid is Subject A when it comes to studying up on how to shut down the Oilers. And this is not an occasional test spread out over seven months, but a comprehensive exam that could extend over two weeks.

“He’s a fast skater,” Ducks winger Jakob Silfverberg said. “It’s not only fast. He’s good at handling the puck at a fast speed as well. He’s a tricky player to play against. It’s going to be a challenge. But I think that’s why we all want to play. We want to play against the best players.

“It’s going to be a fun series.”

Game 1 of the best-of-7 Western Conference second-round clash is Wednesday at Honda Center. The Ducks already concede that McDavid is going to generate his share of offensive chances. The Oilers’ captain has too much talent to contain for seven games.

The plan is make sure that he doesn’t become an unstoppable force. So they will counter with their indomitable object – a finalist for the Selke Trophy as the top defensive forward.

“It’s not going to be me against McDavid,” Ducks center Ryan Kesler said. “It’s the Anaheim Ducks against the Edmonton Oilers. Obviously he’s a big part of their success and big part of their team. We’re going to look at ways to shut him down and shut that line down and shut their other lines down.

“It’s bigger than just one guy.”

Kesler is right. Other components powered both teams to a one-two finish in the Pacific Division, with the Ducks edging the Oilers by two points and able to have the home-ice advantage. Quality depth play allowed both to move past their first-round opponents.

But the McDavid-Kesler battle is going to be at the heart of the chess match between Ducks coach Randy Carlyle and Edmonton’s Todd McLellan, who Carlyle is plenty familiar with dating to his days behind the San Jose bench. In the five regular-season meetings, Carlyle did what he could to get Kesler out against the league’s next superstar.

“I can remember the last game that we played against them here,” Carlyle said. “On every defensive zone faceoff, he pulled Connor McDavid off the ice. So what was happening was Kesler’s group was not getting any offensive time and that can, at times, wear on players in the situation you’re in.

“We made adjustments to counter that and we went ahead and played Kesler against some other line. We’re not going to get away from the things that we do and the staples that we do. We’re going to play the game as it unfolds. We’re going to read situations and try and make decisions that are based upon us having success.”

Whereas San Jose often left much of the defensive responsibility on McDavid to its shutdown defense pair of Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Justin Braun, the Ducks will hand the majority of that to Kesler and his responsible linemates, Silfverberg and Andrew Cogliano.

Named as a finalist for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy for the qualities of “perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to hockey” on Monday, Cogliano said slowing down McDavid can’t be a one-person job and that making him play defense is just as important.

“But I also think you need an element where when you don’t get the matchup, you need a team that’s strong enough and mentally tough enough that it can play against anyone,” Cogliano said. “We’re trying to get to that point – and we are – where if matchups don’t work, it’s OK. Because guys can handle themselves and guys know what they need to do defensively.

“It always evens itself out in terms of the matchups during a series. That’s what makes the playoffs the playoffs. When you play against a guy each and every night, you learn tendencies and you expose each other in certain ways, which I think you can.

“It’s what makes the playoffs so entertaining and fun to watch.”

History has shown some amount of success. McDavid didn’t score a goal in his first six games against the Ducks. But in the last two meetings, on March 22 in Anaheim and April 1 in Edmonton, the Oilers’ playmaking star had a goal and two assists in each.

One who relishes the challenge, Kesler said he has had enough experiences to have a book on him as he does with other top centers and offensive standouts. But to the assertion that he is out to get under a player’s skin, the center fought back.

“That’s the thing,” he said. “People think I go out there and try to frustrate my opponent. I just play my game. If that frustrates them, then that’s their problem. I go out and I play hard and I’m going to compete.

“I’m going to try to out-compete the guy across from me. If they get frustrated, that’s their problem. But I’m not going out there to frustrate my opponent.”

Whatever his intent, if the result is getting McDavid off his game, then so be it.

“Kes is a physically dominating player,” Cogliano said. “He always has been and that’s what’s made him good. I think that’s what has made him strong throughout the years and that’s what continues to make him a player that guys maybe don’t like playing against.”

The Ducks can only hope that McDavid will hate dealing with him. Anything that will keep No. 97 from beating them.

Eric Stephens has been covering the Ducks and the NHL for news outlets since 2005 and for the Orange County Register since 2009. Now happily spreading the hockey gospel throughout the Southern California News Group. Has covered three Stanley Cup Finals and (sadly) one NHL lockout. Once took up an invitation to a fan's tailgate barbecue at the College World Series. Has all sorts of genres on his iPod and tries his best in whatever he does most of the time. Only the grits at Waffle House come close to his. Eternal goal: Be better.

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